Friday, March 29, 2024

The Final Efforts: Stage 18 (bunchie)

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HomeJournalsGarmin Physio Toby WatsonThe Final Efforts: Stage 18 (bunchie)

The Final Efforts. We’re on the downhill slope for this race now, and the fatigue is starting to show. It’s getting tougher and tougher to chisel our heads off the pillow each morning, and the coffees are having smaller and smaller effects.

Sunglasses stay on when inside as they’re keeping our eyeballs from falling out.

I guess the riders are tired too.

Today was another flat stage, the first in about a week, so I think every person involved in the race expected the sprinter teams to be to the fore once again.

They delivered a bunch sprint as expected, and Garmin-Transitions were once again in the thick of things.

Millar and Martijn delivered Jules to the front of the show at the right time, and Jules crossed the line in second place.

The Final Efforts
Jules heading for second behind Cav.

Yet another excellent result, among many for the team this month. These blokes rock! Next up is the time trial in Bordeaux, followed by the final stage in Paris.

As it’s about 600km between the two cities, the logistics of getting all of the staff, vehicles and equipment to where they need to be for the final stage has been complicated.

The riders and directors catch a dedicated train in the morning, so are sweet as apples, but the rest of us are on marathon drives at a million o’clock after the stage finishes. Good times!

Speaking of times, I’ll be on the course today giving extra time checks for the TT.

Always good to have as much info as possible! Here’s to the Garmin-Transitions train rolling on to yet more success!

Toby Watson
Toby Watsonhttps://www.veloveritas.co.uk
Ex-Garmin Transitions physiotherapist and soigneur Toby Watson brings you inside the squad, and shows you what it's like to be working with a top team on the biggest races in the world. Through his regular blog updates, Toby shares his sense of drama and fun that were essential parts of his job. Toby is Australian, and currently lives in Girona with his fiancee Amanda. If he has any time, he enjoys reading and running, and occasionally skiing too, when he can.

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